A trilateral meeting at team level on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine could take place in the first half of November.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during an online meeting at the Hudson Institute, Suspilne reports.
The head of state noted that the Ukrainian side is ready for talks on any day, but the final decision depends on Russia’s position.
He said such a meeting had been planned for October, but the Russian side refused it on yet another pretext. The President stressed that talks are impossible without US participation and pressure, and added that the next step must be to move from the technical level to a direct meeting of the countries’ leaders.
Talks on Ending the War in Ukraine: What We Know
- On 20 October, a meeting took place in Oslo between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and US special envoy Steve Witkoff. The participants discussed proposals for establishing peace, security guarantees for Ukraine and post-war reconstruction.
- According to Zelenskyy, Washington agrees on the need to provide Ukraine with strong security guarantees. Among the possible options under consideration is a mechanism similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
- On 21 October, Witkoff travelled to St Petersburg for a meeting with Putin. According to the US special envoy, Jared Kushner also took part in the talks. The sides discussed the foundations of a peace settlement and the possibility of continuing work towards ending the war.
- Witkoff also said the work is expected to continue in the format of trilateral talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine at the technical level.
- European governments, meanwhile, are discussing the possibility of appointing a representative to hold direct talks with the Russian President on ending the war in Ukraine. The most likely potential candidates include Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Council President António Costa.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 23 October that talks between the teams of Ukraine, the US and Russia would take place in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of next month. He did not name a specific date.
- Earlier, US Vice President J.D. Vance said that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to return to the negotiating process, but still have serious differences over the terms of a potential peace agreement.